Arriving at Fenglin City

Ten miles outside the town.

Chen Xuan pulled on the reins at the edge of a secluded mountain forest.

He dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and then circulated the Huanri True Qi within his dantian, beginning to simulate the Taibai Sword Qi.

When he had caught Wan Guiyun's sword move with his finger earlier, he had intercepted a wisp of Taibai Sword Qi.

Though that wisp of sword qi was faint, its characteristics were distinct.

Fierce, sharp, and indestructible.

The characteristic of the Huanri Technique was to deceive the heavens and cross the sea, replacing the real with the fake; as long as he had come into contact with an opponent's true qi, he could simulate almost identical true qi.

As the intercepted wisp of Taibai Sword Qi merged into his Huanri True Qi, the latter began to change gradually as the technique circulated, becoming fierce, sharp, and turning a silvery-white color.

Chen Xuan extended a finger, and a wisp of silvery-white true qi emerged from his fingertip.

Fierce, sharp, and indestructible.

It was exactly the same as Wan Guiyun's Taibai Sword Qi.

"Done."

Chen Xuan revealed a smile.

With the characteristics of the Taibai Sword Qi cultivated from the supreme Taibai Sword Scripture, the power of his Nine Shadow Killing Sword would increase significantly.

Although the Vajra True Qi was robust, it leaned toward defense and was not the best choice for executing sword techniques. The Taibai Sword Qi, however, specialized in killing and was indestructible, making it the most suitable true qi for swordplay.

Even though the Taibai Sword Qi he simulated with his Huanri True Qi only possessed ninety percent of the power of the true supreme technique, it was still terrifyingly formidable.

"The Huanri Technique is truly marvelous."

Chen Xuan dissipated the sword qi at his fingertip, mounted his horse, and continued on his way.

Time passed.

The sun rose and set.

In the blink of an eye, it was the morning of the third day.

The silhouette of Fenglin City appeared on the horizon.

Chen Xuan pulled on the reins, looking into the distance, his brows gradually furrowing.

That city could no longer be considered a city.

Although the walls still stood, they were covered in dark red bloodstains, as if they had been soaked in blood, casting an eerie, dark glow in the twilight.

The city gates were tightly shut, and the walls were completely deserted. There were no guards, no patrols; the entire city was deathly silent, with not even the chirping of birds or insects to be heard.

A thick, bloody stench permeated the air, so pungent that it was nauseating even from several miles away.

"This is the Blood Sacrifice Array..."

Chen Xuan murmured.

He could feel that the entire Fenglin City was shrouded in an invisible force—cold, evil, and like countless unseen threads, binding the entire city so tightly that not even a breeze could pass through.

That was the aura of an array.

Normally, a martial artist could only mobilize the free-roaming spiritual energy between heaven and earth to set up an array upon reaching the Grandmaster Realm.

However, this was not absolute.

Zhuqi Realm martial artists could also set up arrays with the help of items like array disks and array flags, though they were not as flexible as those controlled by a Grandmaster; each location with an array flag required someone to guard it to maintain the array's operation.

Chen Xuan did not rashly approach Fenglin City, but instead rode his horse around to the east of the city.

According to the instructions in the secret letter, the gathering point for the Three Great Sects was on a hill to the east of Fenglin City.

On the hill, three flags snapped in the wind.

The Crane and White Cloud Flag of the Guiyuan Sect, the Blood Moon Flag of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, and the Sword Flag of the Ten Thousand Sword Villa.

Beneath the flags, three groups of people were arrayed, maintaining a subtle distance from one another, acting as both allies and rivals.

Chen Xuan dismounted and walked toward the Guiyuan Sect's camp.

"Who goes there?"

A martial artist stepped forward to block Chen Xuan at the front of the camp.

"Outer sect disciple Chen Xuan, here by order to participate in the encirclement of the Seven Kill Sect."

Chen Xuan produced the secret letter and his identity token.

The young man took them, glanced at them, and nodded: "Go in. Elder Shen is over there."

Chen Xuan followed his gaze and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing at the highest point of the hill, gazing toward the distant Fenglin City.

He wore a green robe with a piece of mutton-fat jade hanging from his waist, and his entire person exuded a gentle, jade-like temperament.

But Chen Xuan could feel an unfathomable aura about this man, deep as an abyss and heavy as a mountain, making one dare not underestimate him.

The Three Great Sects had an agreement that masters above the Zhuqi Realm could not enter Tiannan Prefecture City. Therefore, the elders stationed in Tiannan Prefecture City by the Three Great Sects were all at the peak of the ninth level of the Zhuqi Realm, just half a step away from becoming masters.

"Disciple Chen Xuan greets Elder Shen."

Chen Xuan walked behind him and bowed in salute.

"So you are Chen Xuan?" Shen Qianqiu turned around. "Sun Tianxing said you had a fortuitous encounter, consumed a Golden Marrow Jade Fruit, and progressed in the Vajra Technique by leaps and bounds, breaking through to the Zhuqi Realm within a month of going to Lianshan City."

"It seems that what he said is true."

Chen Xuan felt an invisible force sweep across his body.

He knew that this invisible force was the spiritual power that only martial artists at the seventh level of the Zhuqi Realm, the Tuotai stage, could master.

However, Chen Xuan had used the Huanri Technique to alter his cultivation, adjusting it to the second level of the Zhuqi Realm so as not to attract too much attention.

If he had shown the fifth level of the Zhuqi Realm, it would have been too eye-catching.

After all, even the founder of the Vajra Sect, who had consumed the Vajra Relic Pill refined from the Golden Marrow Jade Fruit, had taken over twenty years to break through to the ninth level of the Zhuqi Realm.

From the time Chen Xuan obtained the Vajra Technique until now, it had only been one month in total. If he had revealed a cultivation level of the fifth level of the Zhuqi Realm, it would have been too shocking.

Shen Qianqiu, an elder who had reached the ninth level of the Zhuqi Realm, used his spiritual sense to investigate but found no flaws, believing that Chen Xuan was indeed at the second level of the Zhuqi Realm.

"Tian Wei, Chen Xuan has a cultivation level of the second level of the Zhuqi Realm. For now, incorporate him into your team and have him follow your command."

Shen Qianqiu called over a martial artist not far away.

"Yes, Elder!"

The martial artist named Tian Wei responded and walked over.

This man was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a resolute face and a sturdy build. He carried a broadsword on his back and exuded the aura of the fourth level of the Zhuqi Realm.

"Follow me."

Tian Wei led Chen Xuan to the rear of the Guiyuan Sect camp.

There were more than twenty people here, each of whom possessed cultivation in the Zhuqi Realm and were inner sect disciples.

The Blood Fiend Devil Sect and the Ten Thousand Sword Villa were much the same; the disciples they sent also numbered over twenty. To encircle and suppress the Seven Kill Sect, ordinary Body Tempering disciples were of no use. Those mobilized this time were all elites stationed in Tiannan Prefecture City—disciples of the Zhuqi Realm.

Tian Wei's squad had a total of six people. With Chen Xuan joining, the number increased from six to seven.

"This is Junior Brother Chen Xuan, who has a cultivation level of the second level of the Zhuqi Realm."

Tian Wei gave a brief introduction.

The other five team members nodded at Chen Xuan as a greeting. At a time like this, one more person meant one more source of strength; no one cared who had arrived.

Tian Wei said, "You arrived just in time. After deliberation, the three elders will attack Fenglin City in a quarter of an hour. We will attack from four directions, storming all four city gates simultaneously. If you had arrived any later, you would have missed it."

"Four directions?" Chen Xuan asked. "Besides the disciples of our Three Great Sects, who is the fourth group?"

"The people from the City Lord's Mansion of Tiannan Prefecture City," Tian Wei explained. "Although the City Lord of Tiannan Prefecture has no real power, he cannot be completely excluded from such a major event. He sent a team led by the Deputy City Lord, who is at the seventh level of the Zhuqi Realm, to attack from the North Gate."

"The Blood Sacrifice Array set up by the Seven Kill Sect in the city was not laid out by a martial arts master, but by utilizing the power of array flags. Once we enter the city, our mission is to find these array flags and destroy them."

"As for the core of the array, the elders will naturally be responsible for handling that."

"Understood!"

Chen Xuan nodded.